This Application hereby claims the benefit of the priority of Applicant's Great Britain Patent Application No. 1212754.4 filed on Jul. 18, 2012 and entitled “AIR VEHICLE” which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
This invention relates to an air vehicle, such as a hybrid air vehicle, having a strake.
Published PCT Application WO 2001/094172 describes a hybrid air vehicle having a gas-filled contoured flattened hull and including a pair of longitudinally extending side lobes defining, on the underside of the hull, a longitudinally extending central recess and a payload module received in the central recess. The vehicle lift is partly aerodynamic and partly aerostatic.
The use of low aspect ratio strakes to improve the performance of circular lifting bodies dates back to at least the early 1960's. It is an aim of the invention to provide a strake suitable for an air vehicle, e.g., an airship or hybrid air vehicle, having a hull of flexible sheet material.